‘We have to be on the same wavelength as the clubs’

Over the past week or so Seorise Bulfin has been on the phone talking to Meath hurlers who he hopes will be part of his plans to bring success to the Royal County.

During the course of this year's inter-county hurling season a number of players had opted not join the Meath set-up. As part of his new vision for hurling in the county the new senior team manager wants to bring as many of the those players as possible back into the fold.

"I found it very strange to be honest , I didn't know what the story was last year when I arrived in Meath there was already a panel in place. I have spoken to some guys who weren't there last year who have committed to come back in," said Bulfin who is only a few weeks in the role but is wasting little time in getting structures up and running.

"I won't be finalising a panel until a month or so, talking to the players was just an introduction, to outline my plans for the year ahead and invite them back in. Some have said yes already, some have been caught with injuries and are not sure what they are doing while there are one or two looking at getting a call from the football," he added, reluctant to get into specific names at this stage.

Other aspects of his overall plan were outlined to club delegates at Dunganny on Monday evening of last week at a meeting compered by the chairman of the Hurling Committee Martin O'Halloran, but last Friday the Limerickman spoke further to the Meath Chronicle about what objectives he hopes to achieve - and how he hopes to achieve them.

There are, he outlined to the Chronicle, a number of chief aspects to his overall strategy.

"I'm taking a two-fold approach. I want to be successful and win as many matches as possible but also look at the development of the young players within the panel and the overall development of Meath hurling."

He pointed to how Meath won u-20 and minor All-Ireland titles in recent years. Ok, they might have been at B level yet the victories do indicate there is talent within the county. That talent, he feels, needs to be developed, encouraged and promoted, with strength and conditioning a essential part of that. That's where strength & conditioning coach Ciaran Keogh comes into the equation.

"This year we had four or five young, emerging players come in every Tuesday night and train with us and get a taste of what's it like to play senior inter-county hurling," added Bulfin.

"Their hurling skills are good but physically they are so far off the mark, chalk and cheese compared to the experienced players. These guys have a lot of development work to do, a lot of strength and conditioning. The last thing you want is to send a player out and he is blown away physically."

He and Keogh intend to meet the players individually have them tested in terms of their fitness and give them strength and conditioning routines to make appropriate improvements.

Compared to other counties such as Clare, Wexford and Waterford, where Bulfin has worked as a coach with Davy Fitzgerald, the Meath boss says the skills level among Meath players is good. Well, "quite good" anyway.

"I was pleasantly surprised. I didn't know what to expect and as this year went on I thought they improved immensely but again there is always room for improvement, you are always looking to get a bit better."

That's why Bulfin will be expecting the Meath players to do "a lot of stuff" on their own in terms of training and playing. He will also be putting a big focus on working closely with the clubs.

He paints a scenario outlining how players in is match-day 26 panel who don't get a run out with the county on a Saturday, won't be stopped form playing for their clubs the next day if there are league games fixed.

"We have to be on the same wavelength, the county team and the clubs. I firmly believe if you are in sync a rising tide can lift all boats. It's important that we benefit from club and they benefit from us," he says adding that players who play for the county should at the end of the inter-county season return to their clubs much better, stronger players. That's their pay-back.

It's about assessing the needs of individual players and juggling that with their club demands. He also plans to talk club managers.

"It's probably easier for inter-county managers now than say four or five years ago, now we have a defined, split season there shouldn't be too many issues but there will be issues from time to time." It's about getting that "balance" right," he added.

Bulfin says he was delighted and surprised by the "big turnout" of club delegates at Dunganny to hear what he and Ciaran Keogh had to say. The man from Bruff was encouraged by that as he sets about plotting a new course for Meath hurling.